Henry Minutes April 6, 2021

In today’s Henry Minutes, I cover the swearing in of Greg Cannon and Vincent Williams, the county’s upcoming called meeting to discuss transportation SPLOST and Locust Grove approved a commercial rezoning request. Henry Minutes is a collection of news from around Henry County.

Cannon, Williams take oaths of office

On Monday morning, April 5, Greg Cannon was sworn-in to represent district three on the county commission. Cannon fills the vacancy left by the passing of Commissioner Gary Barham last month.

Senate Bill 306 — signed by Governor Kemp last Friday, April 2 — states the county chair shall appoint an interim commissioner when the board as a whole fails to appoint one within 14 days following a vacancy. Cannon was selected from three nominees submitted by the Henry County Republican Party.

There will be a special election on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. A runoff election (if needed) will be on July 13. Commissioner Cannon will serve until the special election results are certified. The election winner will serve through December 2022.

Also on Monday, April 5, Councilman Vincent Williams took the oath of office in Locust Grove. Councilman Williams won a special election in March to fill the unexpired term of Councilman Gardner, or through December 2021. The seat now held by Councilman Williams will appear on the ballot alongside two other council seats in November.

T-SPLOST Called Meeting

Henry County and the four cities have a joint meeting coming up on Thursday, April 15, at 6 pm. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss transportation SPLOST. State law requires a joint meeting between the local governments when they are preparing to place a T-SPLOST on the ballot.

The joint meeting will be to discuss both proposed projects and an intergovernmental agreement. If the parties can agree to an IGA, then it allows Henry County to ask voters for a full one-cent penny sales tax in November. Without an IGA, then the BOC would be limited to 0.75 cents in additional sales tax.

Transportation SPLOST is a proposed increase in the local sales tax rate to fund transportation projects. Which projects the program will fund, if approved by voters, have not been identified. T-SPLOST is separate from education SPLOST renewed by the voters last month.

Commissioner Thomas has a Google survey available here seeking input on district IV projects.

Locust Grove Rezoning

Finally, on Monday, April 5, the Locust Grove city council considered a commercial rezoning request at the northwest corner of Tanger Blvd and Indian Creek Road. The applicant submitted plans to build a convenience store / gas station at the location, with an attached dry cleaner’s.

The council voted 4-3 to approve the rezoning from RA (residential agricultural) to C-1 (neighborhood commercial). Council members Breedlove, Greer and Williams voted in favor of the request; whereas, council members Boone, Shearouse and Taylor voted against it. Mayor Price broke the tie in favor of the request. An earlier motion to deny the request failed by the same vote.

Councilman Greer and Williams commented a major factor in their decision was the city’s future land use map. The FLUM supports commercial development at the location. Further, the adjacent street corner is zoned for C-2 use — a more intensive zoning district. For these reasons, the council voted to approve the rezoning with seven conditions. They include the following:

• the building exterior shall consist of all brick, glass, stone or any combo thereof.
• maintain an undisturbed buffer between the adjacent residences and gas station, to include a min. 6’ vinyl fence. If the existing buffer is inadequate, then the developer shall install additional landscaping.
• install a sidewalk along the property’s road frontage, to match the existing width of sidewalks on Tanger Blvd. The sidewalk shall be on both Tanger Blvd and Indian Creek Road.

Featured image shows Tanger Blvd at Indian Creek Road. Photo credit Google.